Locke and Limborch
In Jessica Gordon-Roth & Shelley Weinberg (eds.),
The Lockean Mind. New York, NY: Routledge (
2021)
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Abstract
Philippus van Limborch was a friend and correspondent of Locke’s for twenty years. The aspect of their correspondence that interests us here unfolds across 1700–1702 on the topic of human freedom. In Section 1, I outline Limborch’s view of freedom, which is one of indifference. In Section 2, I describe why, despite Limborch’s insistence that their positions were similar, Locke could not agree with Limborch’s view and even modified his account to make the difference more apparent. I conclude in Section 3 by noting that Locke and Limborch have radically opposing views about what kind of freedom is worthy of the name.